Removing Keychain Password Entries

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Dec 20, 2017
2 min read

Wayne Chen updated October 14, 2014 at 2:49 PM


Symptoms

After logging in, you are repeatedly prompted to unlock the "Local Items" keychain in multiple apps.

Resolution

Note: This article is about the "Local Items" keychain, not the "Login" keychain. Please see below for issues with "Login" keychain password.
Follow these steps to prevent prompts to unlock the Local Items keychain.

  1. In Finder Select Go > Go to folder (⇧⌘G)

  2. In the window that appears, type the following: 

     ~/Library/Keychains/
  3. Click OK.
  4. Look for a folder with a name similar to this " A8F5E7B8-CEC1-4479-A7DF-F23CB076C8B8". Note: Each folder has a unique number.

  5. Move this folder to the Trash.  Repeat 1-5 as well for 

     /Library/Keychains/
  6. Immediately choose Apple Menu () > Restart… to restart your Mac.

After restarting the computer, a new folder is created in the Keychains folder with a name similar to "4B29A0BB-599D-47FC-A2D1-42B5592B130B ". There is no need to repeat the steps in this article, or to delete this folder. The new folder is expected and corrects the symptom described in this article.

Keychain Access asks for keychain "login" after changing login password



Note : This doesn't happen if you change your account password using Accounts preferences.
If you want your default keychain to be unlocked automatically when you log in, synchronize your Keychain Access and account login passwords by doing this:

  1. Open Keychain Access (you can get to it by choosing Utilities from the Go menu in the Finder).
  2. From the Edit menu, choose Change Password for Keychain "login."
  3. Type the former former password of the account that you are currently logged in to, then click OK.
  4. If you entered the correct password, a new window appears; enter the original password again in the Current Password field.
  5. In the New Password field, type the password that matches your current account password.
  6. Re-enter the newer password in the Verify field, then click OK.

If you don't remember your original password, you'll need to delete the keychain. Deleting a keychain also deletes all the password data saved in that keychain.

  1. In Keychain Access, choose Preferences from the Keychain Access.
  2. If available, click the Reset My Default Keychain button. This will remove the login keychain and create a new one with the password provided.
  3. If Reset My Default Keychain is not available, choose Keychain List from the Edit menu.
  4. Delete the "login" keychain.

The next time you log in to the account, you can save your current password in a keychain.